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CHAPTER SIX: A BEAUTIFUL LIE
The text was short. Clear. Stay away.
But Elias Vale wasn't built for obeying orders — especially not from Damien Cross. Damien's voice was like a magnet and a cage at once. Impossible to ignore, impossible to escape.
Still, when Julian messaged, I know something. Come alone. 41st and Granger, Elias didn't think twice. No jacket, no backup, just that dumb stubborn hope he clung to.
---
The air was cold, sharp, biting through his thin shirt as he slipped into the alley behind the run-down auto shop. The place was a ruin—windows smashed, trash piled high, the stench of rust and decay thick in the air.
His flashlight hand shook. He swallowed a dry gulp.
"Julian?" His voice cracked on the edge of a whisper.
Nothing but the creak of a loose door swinging in the wind.
Then something wet, cold, under his sneaker.
Blood.
Elias froze. His heart slammed against his ribs.
A red trail led deeper inside.
He followed it, every step heavier than the last.
And there he was.
Julian.
Slumped against the workbench, head tilted at an unnatural angle, eyes wide open like he'd seen the worst thing imaginable. Blood soaked through his hoodie, fresh and sticky, pooling beneath his lips.
Elias dropped down beside him, hands trembling.
"No… no, no… wake up. Please."
He shook Julian's shoulder, desperate, voice breaking.
But Julian was gone.
Just a twitch of a finger — a last, empty reflex.
---
Sirens screamed in the distance, growing closer.
Red and blue flashed through the broken windows.
Shouts, commands.
"Police! Hands where we can see 'em!"
Elias turned, panic flaring. "He's dead! I just found him!"
A baton cracked into his ribs.
He hit the concrete hard.
Cold metal snapped around his wrists.
Flashing cameras caught every second.
Reporters screamed, "That's the intern! Damien Cross's boy! Covered in blood! Is he the killer?!"
Elias wanted to scream louder: I didn't do this! I swear!
But no one heard.
---
Three hours later, in a sterile interrogation room, Elias sat shaking.
Blood crusted under his nails. His hands trembled as tears streamed down his face.
Julian's eyes haunted him. The smell of copper thick in his nostrils.
The door slammed open.
Damien walked in, calm, cold, like a storm ready to break.
"I didn't kill him," Elias said, voice raw.
"I know," Damien replied, voice flat.
"They're gonna charge me."
"They won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I won't let it happen."
Elias swallowed hard. "Julian knew something. He was going to tell me."
Damien's jaw tightened. "And now he's dead."
"I shouldn't have gone. I should've listened."
Tears spilled over. Real, raw sobs.
Elias covered his face with his bound hands, shaking.
Damien stood and then—unexpectedly—wrapped him in a strong embrace.
Elias didn't pull away.
He let go. Let himself fall apart.
He cried like the world was ending.
Because, in that moment, the only person who didn't see him as a killer was the one everyone else feared most.
"I didn't mean to," Elias whispered.
"I know," Damien said, voice soft.
"I just wanted answers."
"I've got you," Damien said.
---
Later, Elias woke up in a bed he didn't recognize.
Silk sheets, smooth and cold.
The air smelled faintly of cedar and something sharp — Damien's cologne.
He blinked, disoriented.
"This isn't my room," Elias said.
Damien was leaning against the doorframe, watching him.
"Morning," Damien said.
Elias swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes. "Did you drug me?"
Damien smirked, amused. "You cried yourself out. No drugs needed."
Elias shivered and stood. "I need to go home. Now."
Damien opened the wardrobe.
Inside were Elias's things — his clothes, sketchbooks, even his worn hoodie and toothbrush.
Elias froze. "You moved my stuff? Without asking?"
"I asked. You said no. So I decided for you."
His fists clenched. "You can't just take over my life."
"I already did."
Elias backed away, voice shaking. "This isn't right. You're insane."
Damien closed the door and stepped forward, pinning him against the wall.
His breath was cold and hot at once, electric.
"You think you're safer on your own? After tonight?"
"The police, the media, the killer—everyone wants you."
"Here, you belong to me."
His voice dropped to a growl.
"And I protect what's mine."
Elias shuddered—not just from fear.
"You want control," he whispered.
"I want you alive."
"If that means control, fine."
Then, God help him, Elias kissed Damien.
Fierce. Angry. Desperate.
Damien caught the kiss, rough and hungry, deepening it with a low groan.
---
Then—BZZZT.
Damien's phone buzzed violently.
He pulled back, breathing hard.
"What now?"
He answered.
His face darkened. His hand clenched.
"They found another body."
Elias felt like the floor dropped out.
"Who?"
Damien's voice went low, sharp.
"This one… had your brother's necklace."
---
Elias's mind raced.
Noah's necklace.
The one Damien had given him years ago.
Why was it on a corpse?
The room seemed to spin.
Damien's eyes were hard, unreadable.
"We're not safe," Damien said quietly.
Elias's chest tightened.
More bodies.
A killer still out there.
And now, a connection to his brother.
He couldn't breathe.
"What does it mean?"
Damien shook his head. "We don't know yet. But this changes everything."
Elias swallowed the lump in his throat.
He wanted to run. To hide.
But there was no running from this nightmare.
---
Later that night
Elias sat on Damien's couch, fingers twitching, heart pounding.
"You're keeping me here. Against my will."
Damien smiled darkly. "Against your will? You don't have one anymore because some people want you dead."
Elias snapped, "I'm not a prisoner!"
"Maybe not. But you're mine. And I'm not letting you out into that world."
"Damien, I'm not a child."
"I don't care."
They stared at each other.
Electric tension thick between them.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," Elias whispered.
"Then believe me. I'll protect you"
And just like that, Elias crumbled again.
---
This whole night was a mess.
But at least, for now, he wasn't alone.
He had Damien on his side.